


I don’t want to ruin the mood, but we have a problem

by lovecanbesostrange



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Red Queen Week 2016
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-22
Updated: 2016-10-22
Packaged: 2018-08-23 21:08:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8342830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovecanbesostrange/pseuds/lovecanbesostrange
Summary: Assassin/Politician AU. Red is sent out by the King to kill Regina Mills, an outspoken woman with political ambitions in a growing city on the brink of an industrial revolution. But there is more to her than Red expected and this might be the job she won't finish.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of the Red Queen Exchange 2016, written for Claritse.
> 
> The setting is your typical historical fantasy with a King ruling from up high over a growing city crawling towards the tiniest bit of democracy. Just roll with it.

Her footsteps on the roof didn’t make a sound. She kept her weight on her toes and stepped from tile to tile, careful to avoid moving them. Red knew this city by heart. But from very different perspectives than most people living here. The blindspots that allowed climbing the outer wall, the distance between bridges so she could dive from shadow to shadow, the connections between alleys and backyards with passageways just not too tight for her and of course every building that had a rather easy access to the rooftops. Red could cross the city even during the busiest hour and not be seen by a single person. But now the dark of night provided an extra layer of protection.

She didn’t even need to worry about an escape route, because this night was strictly about surveillance. Her target had been marked, but the King had not spoken his final verdict. Killing somebody was easy, but the fallout what people might think about the dead had to be taken into consideration. Red was a master in the art of leaving the right message. Making it look like natural causes, an accident or the gruesome hit she was hired for – some people never knew anybody else was involved and sometimes it was all that counted.

To be prepared for any scenario Red wanted to see what kind of security her mark lived behind. Usually this was all she cared about. To do her job to the best of her abilities and move on. But the past few days the name Regina Mills had become more and more prominent throughout the city. She heard it on the market, saw posters up on walls and even in the tavern it came up in a heated argument. All Red knew was, that the King wanted her dead, because she was starting to interfere with politics. So far that had meant other people trying to make money in the royal business. But this seemed different.

When she arrived, she circled the roofs and snuck through the alleys, so she could look at the house from every possible angle. The first surprise of the night was the absence of any security at all. Red had expected at least a guard in one of the windows or on the front door. But the only person she could make out after over half an hour of observation, was the woman on the first floor. She was talking, but apparently only to herself while pacing the room.

This was such a perfect chance for a swift attack. But now without murder on her mind, Red decided to get into the house through a window in the attic. She was met with the second surprise, the floorboards were crooked and even had some holes. The house looked very nice from the outside, as did the rooms that she could peek into in the dark. But it seemed that Regina did everything to keep up appearance, without necessarily living in an actual comfortable home. She didn’t waste money. Draft must have been a problem.

On the one hand Red had to be extra careful to not make any suspicious noise, on the other it was much easier to spy. This was she, Regina Mills. So far she did not live up to the picture the King had painted. A cruel and vicious insurgent? Trying to make a grab for power by using the poor? Most of Red’s victims knew what they were doing put them in danger. A lot of power hungry yet cowardly men – and a few women – had some countermeasures up. Just in case. It was almost an acknowledgement of their guilt. But Regina was pretty much out in the open.

“Why can’t these fools understand that I want to strengthen their rights?” Regina tore apart the papers she was holding and threw the pieces to the ground. “Trying to save a bunch of idiots from themselves. Ha! This so-called council is nothing but a sham. A sham!”

For a few seconds Regina stood perfectly still. She concentrated on her breathing, calming herself down. Probably counting out numbers. A technique Red wished more people would use. She then collected the pieces of paper and threw them in a basket. “Tomorrow will be better.”

Regina left the room and Red carefully followed her above. She had to concentrate on the footsteps and listening for doors opening and closing, but once she was certain she was above the bedroom, she tried to find another crack in the floorboards to look through. This time she could only see a corner of the bed and did not get a good view of Regina herself. Not that she needed to. This was not about intruding on her privacy. Killing her in her home already seemed far too easy anyway.

Right, killing her. This was about assassination. Like always. She should just leave and wait for the King’s verdict on how public of a display this should become. But something about this did not sit right with Red. Which was the other big surprise of the night. Red never had second thoughts about her targets and no remorse about doing her job.

So instead of leaving right away, she waited for signs of sleep from downstairs. Then she dared to sneak into the room Regina used as some kind of office. Red needed to take a closer look at those papers. A list of names with different occupations, numbers indicating wages and with how many people they lived. There was also a bunch of symbols that carried more information, but it must have been Regina’s personal code.

The rumors that Regina was trying to get popular with workers seemed true. But nothing about this made her seem like the power hungry type Red had faced before. And there was nobody she could talk to about this.

 

~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~

 

The next day Red skipped her workout routine so she could go to the market early. She wanted to pay more attention to what people were saying about Regina Mills. A lot were in favor of her efforts to break into the city council. It was really just a bunch of merchants who relayed between the King and the people, but the only place where a position could be granted by election. Even though so far the public vote was too quiet and the councilmen mostly chose whom they liked enough to join their ranks.

Regina Mills tried to break into this world and she made promises to look after more than her own interests. It seemed strange the King wanted her dead, because the last time Red dealt with someone from the council, that guy was sentenced to death for exploiting his workers.

Red’s curiosity was not satisfied and so she returned to Regina’s home for a second night. All the rooms were dark already, but Red climbed through the attic window again. When she was halfway through she froze.

“Oh, please come in, I have been waiting for my mysterious guest for quite some time. Now don’t disappoint me.”

Red had been so focused on making sure that nobody was downstairs, she made a rookie mistake by expecting the attic to be empty again. She looked over at Regina, her body tense, ready to attack. But there was no weapon pointed at her. No gun, no crossbow, not even a kitchen knife.

“Shouldn’t you at least threaten me with a weapon?”

“I am not sure about the etiquette with spies. And I am sure if I had waited here with a sword in hand, you would have disarmed me by now anyway.”

Red had to smile at that and she sat down on the windowsill, joining this game of loaded friendliness. “You are right about that second part. But what makes you think I’m a spy?”

“I’m not sure about what you are, but definitely not a thief. Then you would have stolen something yesterday and not come back again.”

“That sounds fair also. But now, please, tell me about my mistake. How do you know I was here before?”

Regina pointed to Red’s boots. “You were careful enough to dust those off before you went from my attic into the house. But there was dust all over your gloves, too. And you smudged the pages I threw out yesterday, but got out of the trash this morning. Somebody was here. You covered your tracks, but I saw that the dust was disturbed all over.”

Red gave herself a mental slap. When was the last time she had been this careless? Yes, there had been times a guard noticed her, but she made sure she was the last thing they ever saw. Every plan could be destroyed by one unpredictable element out of place. But this was pure stupidity.

“Well, you caught me. I’m sorry, but I fear, that this means I cannot allow you to live through this night.”

“So not just a spy, but an assassin? This is worse than I thought.” Red saw the slightest shift in Regina’s body language. She was indeed surprised by the grim news.

“You thought somebody was spying on you and you could have a nice talk?”

“I thought there would be more threats first. Someone from the council not being happy with my ideas about stable prices and helping with transportation for the field workers to and from the city. Some mild sabotage in my campaign. A bribe maybe?” Red laughed. “I’m glad my trivial ideas about nightly intruders amuse you.”

“No, no, please go on. I almost wish I thought of using one of those as a ruse just now. I rarely get to talk with my… well, unwilling clients.”

“Now you are just being rude. It is dark, I can only see your silhouette and you mock me for being an unprepared victim. If you must kill me at least allow me one last drink. I was saving wine for a special occasion, might as well be this.”

Regina did not wait for a response, but turned around and left the room. Red laughed again. It would be a crime to let such boldness go to waste. Still she made sure to follow Regina very closely, invading her private space. Red was in charge of the situation and she could end it any time she liked. For a moment she tensed up, when Regina passed the front door. Would she be foolish enough trying to flee unto the streets? Red was not in the mood for a chase and public bloodshed. But Regina went straight into the kitchen.

“If you could be a dear and open the bottle? The one on the left in that cabinet over there. Right next to the corkscrew. You wouldn’t want me to hold something so sharp, would you?”

Regina grabbed two glasses and set down at the table. Red knew she must have been going out of her mind, trying to come up with an escape plan. It was the duty of the prey to at least try. But there was no harm in allowing her a good last drink.

“Maybe you don’t want the corkscrew, but you came down for a nice big butcher knife? Trying to distract me, so you can hit me over the head with something blunt and heavy?”

“That thought never crossed my mind. I’ve never bashed in someone’s head. Tell me, is it hard to break the skull of a person? You must have experience.”

“Force. One blow is enough if you really mean it. But the slightest doubt, your arm goes slack for only a second and it gets messy. You have to strike again and again and ignore the whimpers and the pain.” Red poured the wine and made sure to hold eye contact. “There are better ways to make it either quick or to make them suffer.”

“So, since this is my first time being murdered in cold blood, what does one talk about in the last moments alive?”

“Do you think you can spark remorse in me by talking about death and cracked skulls?” Red sat down with a mocked expression of shock on her face. “Oh no, you caught me, I never noticed that I’m the monster parents scare their children with. I will now leave and repent my sins!”

“No, you misunderstand me, that was genuine curiosity. I’ve never considered solving my problems by killing people. It’s a weird job you have chosen.”

“You have never once thought that you would be better off, if you could just kill that one person? End their life and end your problems, with a simple blade through the body. Not one single time?”

Regina looked away, picking some invisible lint from her blouse.

“Oh, so you have. Who was it?”

“I never thought about murder. No. It was more a fleeting thought about someone… vanishing. Or how getting run over by a carriage happens to the wrong people.”

“An ex-lover who cheated on you. Broke your heart and deserved to be punished,” Red suggested in a cheerful tone.

“Enough!” Regina’s mask of pride and calm cracked for the first time. “You don’t know me and there is no reason for sharing anything private. You came here for a purpose, so be done with it. And drink your wine, it’s not poisoned. See?”

Regina downed the alcohol in a non-ladylike manner.

“Maybe the wine is poisoned and you just know where the antidote is.”

“You are the one breaking into my home with the intention of murdering me and I am the untrustworthy one who happens to have a conveniently pre-poisoned bottle of wine?”

“Sounds weird when you say it out loud like that. But since it upset you so much that I asked for private information, here is one about me. Because you got it wrong. I never chose to be an assassin. I was born one. There never was a path for me to be anything else. It’s my role.”

Regina gave Red a long once over. Her eyes taking her in from head to toe as if to measure her, searching for something familiar. There was the slightest shift in her facial expression.

“Are you the one who killed councilman Jones?”

“Yes.”

“Did the King order you?”

“Yes.”

“And chopping his hand off was that his idea or yours to show that nobody gets to steal from His Majesty?”

“Stealing? He lost his hand, because he was exploiting his workers. Heavy labor and lying about the hours his factory produced.”

This time it was Regina’s turn to laugh. “Jones lied, because that way he could evade taxes. He paid less than he should, thus stealing from the crown.” Red did not respond. “I don’t miss the guy, but the working conditions haven’t changed a bit. Nobody cared about that.”

“But you do?” Red’s voice was a little bit less sure, a little bit softer. “Is that it? You want that spot on the council and you really do care about these people? Like they say you do? No hidden agenda.”

“I suspect that’s why you are here.”

There it was again, this weird feeling deep down in Red’s guts. This was all wrong. The woman sitting across from her was not a power hungry savage. She was bold and headstrong, maybe a bit arrogant and too smart for her own good. But there was kindness. Red had seen how the little sparks of honest concern affected people on the market. Just being heard meant something.

“The truth is the King wants you dead. He already told me. But he is still weighing the options. Is it better to make it look like an accident, natural causes? It would keep people guessing. Or display your body as a warning for the next to come. He is already scared you could be a martyr.”

“I take that as a compliment,” Regina whispered.

Red leaned forward, she had to take a good long look at Regina’s face in the dim light of the gas lantern. Was that shimmer a hint of a tear in her eye? Was it fear? Relief?

“I didn’t come here to kill you tonight. And this talk doesn’t change that. I don’t have to.” She stretched out her arm, her fingertips grazing Regina’s cheek. Red wished she had taken off her gloves to feel the skin. “I won’t.”

Regina sat still. The perfect picture of composure. Yet that single tear escaped her. Red wiped it away. It was as if this one wet drop soaked right through the leather and into her bones. She knew right then that she could never take Regina’s life.

The moment passed and Red jerked out of her trance. She stood up and finally emptied her glass. Maybe it was poisoned after all and she would be spared further complications. Without another word she turned around and left the house through the front door. Off to a pub, she needed something far stronger than wine.

When Red was nursing her fourth drink she prayed that Regina was already packing her things. If she left the city everything would be okay. No need hunting her down. No need explaining anything to the King. No need for disobedience. Only a very unwelcome pain in her heart.

 

~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~

 

All day Red kept herself busy with some extra training. She had her own private hut in the forest that belonged to the castle grounds. Unlikely for lost wanderers to come by, far enough away so the King could pretend she didn’t exist, when he had no use for her.

Red knew her place, she was a tool. It was what she was raised for. But no matter how much she tried to exhaust her mind by exhausting her body on this day, her thoughts kept circling around Regina. The things she stood for and how the way she talked had sparked something.

Regina had not begged for her life, had not tried to fight or insult her. She was brave. Facing an assassin holding on to her grace and dignity. The same way she tried to oppose the King, by using the system he had to change to not lose all his power over his lands at once. The Council gained ground and Red was sure, that Regina could not be bought off as easily as most men.

Red felt the need to protect Regina rise up in her. But she knew she could not do that. So she hoped the house would be empty by the time she would check in at night. Nightly visits to Regina Mills for three nights in a row. It already seemed like a good habit.

Maybe that was why a part of Red was relieved when she saw light in Regina’s study from the street. No, that woman would not leave. Red decided to use the familiar entrance through the attic. She smiled when she saw a plate was left on the windowsill. A little cake with a note. “In case you are hungry. Nobody shall ever say I am a bad hostess.”

To return the kindness when Red went downstairs she knocked on the door and waited.

“Come in”, Regina said after a short moment. She sat at her desk and gestured to an empty chair. It had a soft cushion, looked out of place in this room, probably from somewhere else in the house.

“I get cake and a nice seat now?” Red set down the plate, but made sure to show she had taken a bite. “Should I leave my cape and gloves downstairs at the wardrobe?”

Regina smiled and relaxed a bit. “Maybe next time. Should you ever use the front entrance from outside.”

Next time. An unfamiliar flutter raged through Red’s belly. To cover up that moment of emotional compromise she did take off her gloves and her hooded cape. “I will keep my weapons on though.” She had to remind Regina of the weapons, because she was lethal and in control.

“I expected as much, but maybe you can at least tell me your name tonight.”

Red brushed over her cape, when she sat down. Black on the outside, a dark red on the inside. “People call me Red.”

“I never understood what that was about. A handful of master assassins who are only known by a certain color.”

“Some people still believe we are just a myth. A good way to scare naughty children and unruly noblemen alike.” Red smirked. That was one part of her job she came to like. Only very few people knew her, but at least a lot of people knew of her. It made her feel a bit less lonely sometimes.

“It must be lonely when people think you’re a monster.”

Red clenched her jaw. How could Regina land such a blow out of nowhere?

“I apologise, I didn’t want to offend you. In fact I know quite a bit about loneliness. Which is why I was actually looking forward to your visit. Not the part where you might threaten me again. I hope we can leave that bit behind. Because last night, when you decided to not kill me-”

“It was simply not necessary,” Red interjected.

“Right.” Regina made a pause. But Red knew she wasn’t fooled. She knew in a situation like that Red was trained to kill, so nobody could ask the wrong question. “When you left last night, I should’ve been overjoyed, but to be honest, I immediately hoped you would come back. Even though your reason for being here is twisted, it was the first time in a long while I wanted to get to know somebody. Red, you intrigue me. And that is rare.”

The bluntness of the statement baffled Red. Regina sure knew how to keep her on her toes.

“I can say the same thing about you. And that irritates me. I had to come back again.”

They sat in silence for a while. It was not awkward or unpleasant. Instead the tension eased up a bit. It gave them both time to just look at each other. Their eyes met and it was like recognizing something familiar. Red relaxed enough that she finished her cake with a smile.

“If your political career doesn’t take off, you could open a bakery.”

“A compliment or a vague try to keep me from the council like you should?”

“Both.” Red wanted to dust off a few crumbs from her legs, but she looked at Regina and rather picked them up to put them on the plate instead of on the floor. How odd. “Is there any way I can convince you to leave? Or get you to switch careers?”

“No. But even if I said yes, we know the King wouldn’t let me live in this city in peace any longer.”

“You understand that when he gives the order, I will have to explain why I won’t slit in your throat in your sleep.”

Regina stood up and went over to the window. “I don’t want to inconvenience you, but that will be your problem.” She looked outside and Red was suddenly upset that Regina couldn’t say this to her face with the same nonchalant bluster she showcased at every turn.

“You underestimate how serious this problem is.” Red raised her voice. Playtime was over. “If I would go, the King would still send somebody else. If I would give up my position, he would find somebody with far less skills, but still capable to stab you on the streets.”

There was no reaction and Red stood up, banging against the table. “Regina, this is serious!”

“You would leave everything so you wouldn’t have to be the one who kills me?”

Where Red’s voice had grown angry, Regina’s had become a soft whisper.

“If only it would save you,” Red said, stepping closer, “I think I would. Don’t ask me why, but I know that I can’t do what he will ask of me eventually.”

Regina could feel Red standing close behind her. She made half a step back and leaned into her the tiniest bit. “Then can you stay and protect me?”

All Red wanted to do was to put her arms around Regina and hold her tight while answering with a firm yes. She lifted her arms halfway, but stopped. This was too unreasonable. They barely knew each other. Fighting the King was out of the question and Regina had made it clear that running away together was no option either.

“I have to go.”

Red turned around, grabbed her things and went out without looking back.

 

~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~

 

What was she supposed to do? The question buzzed through her head for all of the next day and the next night, when Red kept herself at a distance from Regina. It was a spying distance though. She followed her all day long and it took her every ounce of willpower, to only watch over her at night from the neighboring rooftop.

The day after that Red found a note on her doorstep. The King requested her appearance. Since nobody told her that in person, she figured she could get away with delaying that order by one more night. And she knew where she wanted to spend that.

About an hour after sunset Red walked down the street to Regina’s house and used the brass knocker. An official visitor.

When Regina opened the door, Red had trouble to read her expression.

“Good evening, Regina. You implied I would be welcome again, so…” She remembered the tiny package in her hands and held it out with a sheepish grin. “I brought you some tea. As a gift. Like normal people do.”

Regina stepped aside and let Red in. Their arms brushed against each other and not even the thick leather could dampen the jolt it sparked.

“After not showing up yesterday I was afraid you wouldn’t come back at all”, Regina said closing the door.

When she turned around Red stepped forward and pushed her against the door with her body. The box with the tea fell to the ground, when Red put her hands on Regina’s face and kissed her. This urge had been eating away at her since that moment at the window and she had to give in.

And Regina showed that she did not mind this at all.

She put her arms under Red’s cloak and around her waist, kissing back immediately.

It was the happiest and most scared Red had ever felt. A part of her wanted to throw Regina over her shoulder and kidnap her for her own good. The other part wanted to throw herself down at her feet and swear to protect her from whatever threat the King could come up with, even if she had to kill him instead.

Regina gently nudged Red to break off the kiss. She took a deep breath and looked her right in the eye. It was a serious glare.

“If you run away from a conversation without even saying goodbye one more time, you won’t be welcomed back like this again.”

Red looked down and took a step back. “That sounds terrible. I will brush up my manners for you.”

Regina lifted her chin with a light touch. “Don’t be too polite though.” Before Red could reply anything to that, Regina gestured to the door down the hall. “I have a nice couch in the salon. You settle in and I’ll make some tea.”

Red picked up the box and handed it to Regina. “If you insist.”

Like she promised the other night, she left her cloak and gloves at the wardrobe. There would be no running off. In the salon she found a fireplace and decided to start it up. At least that gave her something to do. When the flames caught on and the wood was neatly piled up, Red heard the clutter of tea cups. Time to settle down on the sofa.

While sitting down suddenly the blade strapped to her boot felt out of place. The two smaller knives where safely hidden as well as the garrotte. But she wanted no visible weapon on her, because there was no need for any kind of intimidation. Red wanted to look as less threatening as possible. Even though she was not sure how to do that exactly.

She was about to put the holster on the table, when Regina walked in a tray in her hands. She shot Red one look and the blade went on to the floor under the table. Crumbs on the plate, weapons not on a table. These were clearly important house rules.

Still Red settled in. Her back against the arm rest, a knee up on the sofa and her arm on top of the backside. She watched Regina set out the cups and sitting down herself on the other end, a bit more dignified and keeping her straight posture. Like always.

They looked at each other.

“That happened,” Red finally broke the silence and got a smile from Regina.

“It did.” Regina turned a bit, so she could put her own arm on the backrest. She stretched out her fingers, touching Red’s.

Red wanted to stay in this bubble. There was even the thought of carrying Regina up to her bedroom right now and ripping off her clothes. But knowing she was allowed to steal a kiss had to be enough. There were still so many unanswered questions.

“I don’t want to ruin the mood, but we have a problem.”

“Oh, if it’s just one I’m sure we can manage.”

“I’m serious, Regina.” Red pushed her arm out a little and intertwined their fingers. She wanted to hold on tight. “We need to find a way to protect you. For the life of me I still don’t understand why there is never a single guard around. The first night I came here I only wanted to stake out your security and there is nothing.”

Regina pulled her hand back and all the positive attention with it. She withdrew completely for a moment while taking a few breaths. Again with the calming herself.

“When I set out for this position, for trying to help people, I knew somebody might come for me. And I never wanted to pay people so they would risk their life for me.”

It finally clicked into place for Red. “You have seen that happen before. You saw people being murdered. By someone like me.”

“Oh, he was not like you at all. You are warm and human. Even when I was afraid you would kill me, I didn’t see that sadistic spark that you would take pleasure in it. You seemed to be polite and strictly about business. But he… he didn’t even bargain with my mother about payment, took her first offer and was happy he made a deal at all.”

“Wait, most assassins are bound to someone or something like I am to the King, because my family owed a debt. The man you describe was hired? Are you telling me, you met Gold?” Red’s voice couldn’t mask her concern. Assassins weren’t meant to be social, but there were some silent agreements. And they were neither mercenaries nor killers with personal motives. But Gold was greed and sadism personified.

“Yes. That was his name. I don’t know how my mother found him, but she got him to kill almost an entire wedding party to throw suspicion off of herself and inherit a fortune. They could’ve been quite a pair…” Regina’s voice trailed off, the memory of the meticulous massacre resurfacing. “A lot of guests died and not a single guard was left alive. He picked them up one by one without even being detected until it was too late. Made it look like the groom was the real target, but he was the distraction. I knew it. And I couldn’t stop it.”

She looked back up at Red. “I knew it was likely I would become a target. But I want to help people. I can’t have somebody stand by and get killed this way. Would you,” she swallowed, “Would you have killed other men to get to me?”

“I would’ve done my best not to. I don’t make any excuses for the things that I’ve done. My target is always my priority, but if I can help it, I try not to kill the people in my way. Guards who see me or even engage in a fight are more than unfortunate casualties. When time allows it I use darts with a special sleeping powder now.”

There was a patch of skin underneath her ribs that seemed to burn. Two very fine cuts from a long time ago, as a reminder of failure to that self-imposed code to avoid any unnecessary death.

“There were two people who died because of me, who should never have. One was a young blacksmith. I hid in his shop after… well, it was a mess and I was hurt and panicked and when he came in I killed him. A complete innocent person.”

“That is awful,” Regina said, yet she didn’t look away. She had all the right to be appalled. “But the fact that you still feel guilty assures me you could never be like Gold at all. And it sets you apart from a lot of people I know who never get their own hands dirty, but play with the lives of others nonetheless.”

Red added some sugar to her tea and took a sip, waiting for the topic to pass on its own. Pouring out her heart like that was exhausting, but also the most intimate she had ever been with another person. Maybe she could even tell Regina about her mother one day. The other person she killed, but shouldn’t have.

“You said you are bound to the King. So when you mentioned giving up your position yesterday, that would be an unspeakable betrayal?”

“I would have to get as far away as possible, if I wanted to live. Maybe these days I even had a chance. Only fifty years ago it was impossible. Other assassins would not tolerate someone running away. But there are fewer of us now, so the hunt wouldn’t be as vicious.” Red shook her head to get the idea out. “The bright side is, I am bound to the King and not the crown, so once he dies I would be free to go. I am specifically his tool.”

“No!” Red was startled by Regina’s outburst. “Don’t ever say that!”

Regina scooted closer and took Red’s hands in her own. “Please don’t ever think you are a tool. You are a person. And it’s not right for anybody else to use you.”

Red searched Regina’s eyes. There it was again. This sense of familiarity, the thing that kept her coming back and that drew her to Regina. There was something they shared without even talking about it. Red squeezed Regina’s hands and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead.

“You’re wrong, but thanks for saying that anyway. I was never raised to be my own person.”

“That doesn’t matter. It’s what they want you to believe, but it’s still wrong. I know what it’s like. My mother never wanted a daughter, she wanted a way into royalty. She couldn’t get in on her own, she could only take a few steps so far. But she had me and made a lot of plans on how to use me.”

Anger flared up inside of her. Red was equally in awe and felt sad for her. Losing her composure for a few seconds revealed so much and explained the passion for why she wanted to help others. But a younger Regina being pushed around, ignored and not allowed to be her own person was a terrible thought.

Red tucked a strand of hair back behind Regina’s ear. She let her hand linger on her cheek and took in every inch of her face. She wanted to learn all the tiny details, what the furrow of her eyebrows meant, the things that would make Regina roll her eyes or wrinkle her nose. And especially everything that would lead to those lips smiling at her again. That was her favorite part so far.

“Nobody will ever use you again, Regina.”

“Us. You have to say nobody will ever use us.”

Regina leaned forward and kissed Red again. She closed her eyes, opened her mouth and enjoyed the taste of Regina’s tongue. Something she could get used to. If only there was time.

Red let her head slid down, so she could bury her face against Regina’s shoulder, pulling her into a tight embrace.

“I have not given you the bad news, yet,” she mumbled, inhaling Regina’s scent.

Regina started to caress Red’s hair. “Let me guess, the King gave you his orders?”

“Not yet. He wants to see me, but I decided I deserve one more night.”

“You deserve more,” Regina whispered right into her ear.

“But what can I do, except to kill the King myself and accept my punishment so you can be free?”

Red hoped that Regina would just refuse to let her go so they could stay like this for the next couple of hours, until her fate could no longer be held off. But instead Regina gently pushed her away to stand up.

“There is one thing I can think of. Come with me.” She took Red by the hand and led her upstairs. “Now, I’m not letting you into my bedroom for what you think.”

“I wouldn’t… I wasn’t…”

“Oh, I hope you were thinking about it at one point, because I sure was.”

Red had trouble keeping up with this mood swing. They stopped in front of the dresser and Regina opened the bottom drawer. But instead of taking something out, she put her hand underneath to get something hidden. It was a small vial.

“So you do keep poison lying around, don’t you? Well, I’m sorry, if you expect I could use this on the King. The time it would take to set it all up, so I could get aw-“

Regina put her finger on Red’s lips.

“This is Gold’s poison.”

Red grabbed the vial. “You mean his very own? The one he created as his calling card? How did you even get this? I’ve known people trying to recreate it, but it’s so specific.”

“Like I said, my mother dealt with him. And he stayed in our home for a while. I saw exactly what this liquid can do. I stole it. I thought maybe someday I could use it the way he used all those innocent people at the wedding. To set up a wrong trail.”

They both knew that this poison took up to twelve hours to take effect. The person who swallowed it would even feel a rush of energy and fit like never before. But when it finally hit, it was an agonizing last battle that ended with tears from their eyes and foam on their mouths. Both gleaming a bit golden. The calling card of a truly diabolical assassin.

“I wouldn’t need to proof my innocence. I only need him to swallow some of this.”

Regina grinned. “I was honest though, you know. When you asked me if I imagined killing people to solve my problems. I never truly dared thinking about using this.” She wrapped her arms around Red’s shoulders. “Being with you for five minutes and I’m already compromised. My, my, what a bad influence you are, my little ruby.”

Red carefully placed the vial on the dresser, before putting her arms around Regina. “Ruby?”

“Like the gem. Red, beautiful, precious. You will need a proper name.”

“Ruby.” She tried the name in her mouth for a bit, until Regina stopped her with her lips. Ruby lifted Regina and carried her over to the bed. “Tell me again what exactly you imagined could happen in this room.”

“I’d rather show you,” Regina replied, when Ruby gently laid her down and immediately straddled her.

“You know,” Ruby bend down, planting kisses down Regina’s jaw, “the city will be in turmoil. There is no heir and the door is open for a bit more democracy.”

“Do you think there might be room for a Mayor?”

“Madam Mayor Mills, that sounds good to me.”


End file.
